Posted: Apr 15, 2018

Crew Claims Both Men’s Races

WORCESTER, Mass. – Both the men's varsity and novice boats took home first place finishes at the Assumption College meet as Massachusetts Maritime Academy's young crew squad continued to improve. Were it not for a technical malfunction, the women might have joined the men with their best finish of the year as well.

The morning began with the varsity men's boat overcoming a strong challenge posed by Johnson & Wales, ultimately pushing ahead to a 14 second advantage after 2,000 meters. The final result was a 7:46.2 result to J&W's 8:00.3.

The quad was made up of Jacob Awalt, Nicholas Mirabile, Nathanael Costa, Quinn Smith, and Ethan Logan. Stroke seat Smith praised the determination of the young J&W crew, saying "They pushed us all the way. They never let up. I'm glad our guys responded the way they did."

MMA novice men - sharing the same 25-year old boat the varsity rowed to victory - experienced a similar fight from J&W's first year rowers. Coxswain Eric Higgins had a front row seat in this battle and said he was only certain of the win with about 200 meters left.

"I always felt like we could win it but, man, they were on our [stern] the whole …way!"

Again the advice of Coach Maura Flanagan proved crucial, and the Buccaneers stuck with their race plan and secured the win with a strong sprint all the way to the finish. The men's novice quad of William Nolan, Seth Lapriore, John Carey, Jacob Awalt, and Higgins made it two wins on the day with a better than 30 second win against the same university. The final was 8:23.7 to 8:54.0.

"Today's racing on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester could be referred to as a 'sweet & sour' experience for Maritime rowers," explained Head Coach Alex Machi. "Both our men's boats took advantage of excellent conditions and a week of solid practices to score strong wins."

Sandwiched between those two successes, however, the women's varsity 4+ (varsity four with coxswain) suffered an equipment failure while in the thick of the competition late in their event that forced them to drop from 4 rowers to only 3 with 500 meters still to go, ultimately falling well behind the pack.

"Initially it felt like a devastating result for a crew that was having their best outing of the young season. However, they soon realized how much they've improved in just a few short weeks and are now excitedly looking ahead to next Saturday's River Hawk Challenge in Lowell, where we'll see even higher caliber competition!"

That meet will take place on the Merrimack River in Lowell next Saturday in the penultimate regular season competition. Keep track of all Buccaneer sports at www.mmabucs.com, plus get the inside scoop on Facebook and Twitter @mmabuccaneers. Check out our new Instagram as well, @massmaritimebuccaneers!

Gabriel Fidler, Sports Information Associate, with copy from Alex Machi Crew Head Coach

Line-ups for Saturday's racing and results by event:

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WV4+ (Women's Varsity Four with coxswain)

Bow – Patria 'Cat' Swan '20

2-seat – Hana Haskell '21

3-seat – McKenzie Hartman '20

Stroke – Brianna Caissie '18

Coxswain – Heather Gaughan '21

Bryant - 1st - 8:10.4

Assumption - 2nd - 8:16.6

J&W - 3rd - 8:30.0